Naru Gets Bleached!
by FionaH93
Summary: Mai and the team come across Ichigo and Rukia fighting a Hollow in Shibuya... unfortunately Naru incurs the wrath of the captains... and the pranking that continues is legendary! IchiRuki NaruMai canon pairings
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer, I don't own Bleach or Ghost Hunt or any of the characters etc etc. **

**Hey! I decided to write this 'cos I don't see why there's no Bleach / Ghost Hunt crossovers. I mean, They hunt Ghosts, Shinigami are technically Ghosts, it just follows on....**

**I'm doing this with help from my sister, HarunoRin! So she's helping me not be awful....**

**Anyway, hope you like it!**

Mai Taniyama, sixteen years old, short caramel hair and a high school student near Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Mai always regarded herself as a fairly normal girl- she didn't get the best grades, but she didn't smoke or do drugs or anything... she was just... average.

As average as a sixteen year old orphan living alone in Tokyo can be.

Every day after school, however, she heads straight to the busy streets of Shibuya for her part time job- a job she was only allowed by the school because of her exceptional living circumstances.

Once in Shibuya, she heads towards a five storey block and up one flight of stairs until she reaches the wooden door with three letters across the window.

S.P.R

"Good Afternoon!" Mai called cheerily into the empty room.

She is greeted by the sound of typing from Lin's office, and a cold voice calling "Mai, Tea!"

Instantly, the girl deflated and moved into the small kitchenette. "Hai, Hai, Naru."

Naru, her boss, appeared at the doorway, watching her with narrowed eyes. "Are you alright?"

Nearly dropping the teapot, Mai whipped around. It couldn't be... Had those words really come out of the Narcissistic teen's mouth?!

The Apocalypse!

"Y-yes! Why?"

Naru eyed her moodily. "You're on time. Did you skip class or something? Surely you're stupid enough not to feel the need to miss out on more of your education than necessary..."

"Ugh, you insult me all the time, Naru! Don't you ever get sick of it?"

"Don't you?"

"Of course but-..."

"Then how about doing your homework instead of watching TV?" He smirked, knowing it was another win for himself, and turned, heading back to his office.

Mai sighed. "Stupid, handsome, cold, narcissistic, Ghost hunting... What the..." Mai trailed off, distracted by something out of the kitchen window.

She'd never seen anything like that before...

"Naru! Lin-san!" She cried, jumping away from the window and running to the door. "Come quickly! Outside!"

**Okay, I know it's short, but more will come very very soon!**

**Please review and let me know there are people reading out there ^_^**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Only been one day since my last chapter, that's dedication for you.**

**This one is a looot longer than the last chapter and therefore is starting to make sense and be interesting, I hope :)**

**Enjoy!**

The first thing Mai noticed outside was a monster. At least, on first inspection, that's what it appeared to be.

It was shaped like an oversized centipede, with a white mask covering its face. Its tail had just slammed into a nearby building moments after she first noticed it, causing a large indent on the tower block.

The creature seemed to be roughly the length of that 20 storey tower block itself, but was on the road next to it. The sudden explosions and subsequent destruction had caused the nearby civilians to start panicking at this sudden attack, probably in fear of terrorists.

The monster itself was being attacked by two people, a girl and a boy. The pair were dressed in black traditional Japanese robes and, Mai noticed, they wielded swords as their weapons. The small dark haired girl managed to slash the monsters mask relatively quickly, and the beast seemed to evaporate into thin air.

Naru and Lin followed Mai closely into the busy street, pushing through the frantic crowd until they were close enough to see the features of the pair clearly– all the people in the area were panicking and screaming.

The strange thing was… None were looking directly at the monster or the two strangers. This meant, Naru calculated, that as well as the masked creature, the two people themselves must be invisible to the public, as generally speaking two people wielding swords was not commonplace in Shibuya.

Unless, of course, you're a member of SPR, and so have been witness to a whole load of crazy.

Mai turned to her boss with wide eyes. "Naru! What was that thing? Do you think it's really gone? And what's with those two people with the swords?" Her voice trembled slightly with fear of the unknown.

Naru looked to Lin, who, as always, was close by his shoulder.

"Lin?" he said, ignoring Mai's questions.

"Hm." Lin agreed.

Naru paused. "Mai, those two are still there." He glanced at her with a small smirk. "Bring them inside, I want to talk to them."

Mai paused. "But what if they're the bad guys?".

"Mai, surely even you noticed the creature seemed to be after one person in particular, that young boy." He pointed towards a toddler cowering behind the other swordsman, a teenage boy with vivid orange hair. Bleached? Mai wondered, cringing at visions of a gang member with a huge ass sword attacking everyone.

Naru sighed impatiently.

"If they were willing to save someone just now, I doubt they'll be in a rush to kill you. You should really start observing these things more." He paused. "On the other hand, if they do kill you, I'll have no one to make my tea… Lin."

Lin's eyes widened (beneath his emo-fringe) "… Yes, Naru." He held back the urge to throttle his young boss and headed towards the two strange individuals.

*

Lin approached the two individuals slowly, picking his way through the debris cautiously. The two were now alone –somehow- and were arguing a lot like Bou-san and Ayako.

_Please let them be slightly more reasonable…_ Lin prayed, and cleared his throat when he got close.

"I have someone who would like to meet the two of you."

*

Ichigo and Rukia had _meant_ to be on holiday with Ichigo's family.

Isshin had announced three days previous that himself, Yuzu, Karin, Ichigo and Rukia were all going on a weekend holiday to Tokyo.

"_Rukia?! What the hell did you go and invite her for?" _

"_Hey! I'm right here, you know!" replied Rukia, who had been invited for dinner… again._

"_Well, you two spend so much time together, and we need to repay her somehow for putting up with you" Isshin responded, smiling coyly. Then, putting on a determined face, announced "Not to mention I'm your father and you must do as I say!"  
_

_After giving his father a swift kick in the head, Ichigo stormed upstairs to "pack some clothes in time for the family super-fun short-notice family holiday!"_

Ichigo had assumed holiday meant the same everywhere… but Rukia's definition still involved work.

They had been taking photos of cosplayers, pointedly ignoring the guy in an orange wig and black robe, when Rukia's phone had started vibrating. Sighing, she pulled out her red glove.

"Hollows? On Holiday? Why the hell did you bring that thing anyway, you stupid midget?!"

"Ichigo, I'm a full time Shinigami… and besides, Hollows don't take holiday's y'know…"

"Yeah, but I do and I'm not chasing after some fucking Hollow, get someone from Soul Society to handle it!"

"Ichigo, we're the closest Shinigami on site, not to mention I'm the one holding the glove so unfortunately… you don't get a choice!" she smirked, pushing her gloved hand into his chest and forcing out his robed Soul-Reaper self.

Popping Kon into her partner's unconscious body's mouth, she swallowed her own, Chappy pill, stepping out of her body more gracefully than Ichigo had managed.

"Right, this way!"

Realising he no longer had any choice in the matter; Ichigo swore and reluctantly sped after her.

*

"I have someone who would like to meet the two of you"

Rukia and Ichigo turned to face the tall, dark haired man addressing them. Ichigo turned around to see if he was talking to someone behind them, then realising this man could actually see them, turned around to face him again.

"Balls."

*

"Captain, we have news from the world of the living. It's Rukia Kuchiki of Squad thirteen and Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute Shinigami."

"Nanao-chan, don't bother your Captain when he's sleepy…"

"You're only tired because you drank too much Sake! It's 11 in the morning!"

"My _dear_ little Nanao-Chan, you're going off topic. What is this news to do with Rukia and Ichigo that's important enough to interrupt my nap time?"

"During a fight with a hollow, they were approached by a team of human psychics, who could see them whilst they were in their spirit bodies"

"We've been seen several times before by humans with a small amount of psychic power, who's to say they're a threat?"

"The young man leading them has an incredible amount of power, more than Kurosaki does in his human form." Nanao adjusted her glasses professionally. "I think we should investigate."

"… Nah." The captain closed his eyes and smiled happily. "Can't be bothered."

Nanao sighed.

*

Naru and Mai moved forward towards the pair after Naru decided they posed no threat. After all, how much of a threat could they be, as currently the small black haired girl was keeping a hold of the orange-haired boy and preventing him from running away from Lin. Her attentions, however, we're firmly on Naru, and she was giving him a cold, hard stare.

"Rukia, what the hell are you doing?" Ichigo asked in a barely audible whisper, an impressive feat for such a loud person.

"Calm down, Ichigo. That guy in the background, with the girl. Can you not sense his spiritual pressure? It's enough to rival yours."

"Sure I can sense it, that's why I'm trying to run away, you freak."

"He doesn't seem to have any obvious intent to harm us, Plus, I'm impressed enough to find a human who can see us with that amount of power. He is probably more impressive than you were. Plus, he may not know how to use this power, and be dangerous. We should try to get enough information to report to Soul Society, at the least."

The corner of Lin's mouth twitched the smallest amount. He had heard every word of this conversation, and thought it may be interesting to his boss later on.

"What are your names?" Naru demanded as he stopped a metre or two in front of the strangers, mirroring the girls' expression back at her.

"What makes you think I would tell you my name when I know nothing about who you are?"

Naru smirked. "Because it's common manners, and if you introduced yourself, I may be inclined to introduce myself in return."

Rukia sighed, annoyed at being outsmarted by this human. "My name is Rukia Kuchiki, and this is Ichigo Kurosaki. And who, may I ask, are you?"

Naru's smirk grew. "That's not important right now. Where do you come from, and how did you kill that creature?"

"Hey! We're not answering any more questions until you tell us who the hell you are!" Ichigo interrupted.

"I advise you keep your subordinate under control whilst we talk."

"I'm not her damn subordinate!"

"Ichigo!" Rukia straightened herself. "We will not tell you anything else until you tell us your names."

"That's what I just said, you stupid midget!"

A short cough from Naru silenced the two Shinigami. "My name is Kazuya Shibuya, and these are my assistants, Koujo Lin and Mai Taniyama." He glanced around at the crowd gathering. "I think that you should come into my office."

The two Shinigami exchanged a way glance and sighed, Rukia leading the way after Naru.

**So yeah.**

**Thanks to my sister for co-writing this with me, HarunoRin ^_^**

**Please review! It will make me want to update super fast! And later on i'm going to have anyone in soul society playing pranks on them, please suggest pranks! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it's been a while guys, I had a bit of a mental block as to how to continue the story :)**

**Thankyou for all your lovely reviews by the way :) keep reviewing and keep me smiling!**

**I think quite a lot gets accomplished this chapter but I'm the one who's been writing all afternoon for you lot :)**

**Enjoy!**

Interrogating the two in his office, Naru mused darkly, was not actually the best of ideas.

He'd learned a lot, and made noted that would supply the basis of his next published theory...

But perhaps it wasn't _actually _worth it.

This... _Rukia_ girl for one was particularly infuriating. She actually took his very-important papers and drew bunniesover them. _Bunnies_.

The great Professor Oliver Davis did not do bunnies.

Then her subordinate, Ichigo, started yelling at him and swearing, causing Mai to run about frantically as Lin used his Shiki to bind the abrasive boy.

At which Rukia kicked him.

In the head.

How someone who was as vertically challenged as her reached his head was still a slight mystery.

It was only when Mai, ever the people person, started talking to Rukia about how cute her drawings were that the little viper calmed down.

This left the three men stood beside each other dazedly as the girls knelt on the floor and gushed about cute things.

This was probably the absolute worst thing Naru could have imagined.

"Ahhhh Rukia-chan your hair is amazing!"

"Thank you Mai-chan, I just love your skirt and cute bunny hair clips! Where did you get them?"

"A little store near here, do you want me to take you sometime?"

Rukia turned massively sparkling eyes to Ichigo. "Yes! Ichigo will be happy to pay!"

"I will?"

"You will."

"Damn."

Naru cast a sympathetic glance to the loud boy beside him. "Maybe if you were more intelligent you'd be able to resist that."

Ichigo glared at him and Mai sighed. "Naru! These are our guests! Be nice!"

Naru shot her a withering glare and she stood up. "I'll hold back on the tea!"

Naru didn't glare after that, but he didn't miss Ichigo's smirk, either.

When the two parted company, Mai was grinning like an idiot.

"I like them." She stated, dialling the number for the other S.P.R workers. "I hope they visit again soon."

Naru and Lin exchanged wary glances, hoping that the girls hadn't exchanged contact details.

*

Unfortunately they had.

"Oh hey, Rukia-chan!" Mai sang, and Naru stood up quickly. "Oh sure I'd love to... I'll meet you here? Ok, see you soon!" She grinned as she hung up and got up. "Tea, Naru?"

"What... were you saying to that girl?" Naru gripped the doorframe, keeping his face carefully blank.

That... That _girl_ was going to make Mai a she-devil! He knew it!

"We're going shopping together." Mai hummed, skipping to the kitchen.

Naru drew in a long breath to calm himself. "I don't want you seeing that girl."

"Why?" Mai asked.

"She's a... bad influence."

"And you're not?" Mai raised an eyebrow. "You're not my father, Naru. I'll be fine."

And she would be.

It was Naru who was going to suffer.

*

"So it's seems that the humans we have received reports about are a potential threat" Yamamoto announced during a Captains meeting. "I open to your suggestions into how we deal with this situation."

"Sir, I must say using the stealth force would be the easiest and quickest solution. We could be ready by tonight- "

"Ahhhh, Soi Fong, you really need to lighten up. Rukia Kuchiki reported to us saying that she was only mildly concerned over a few of the human's spiritual pressures, and that overall, they seem to be nice people not out to deliberately harm anyone." Shunsui interjected. "Besides, if they were a threat, I'm fairly sure Kuchiki would not have had the chance to report to us."

"I agree with Shunsui in that respect. If they truly have the spiritual pressure Rukia says they do, then I don't doubt they could have killed her on the spot. Perhaps we could send someone to observe them for a while? That way we could gain more information into their abilities" Ukitake, healthy enough to attend the meeting – for once – offered.

"We don't have time to waste our officers in Gigai's watching a few more humans with psychic abilities. We are in the middle of a war." Komamura said, with a slight undertone of regret. With that, all the captains' eyes looked anywhere but the three empty spaces in the room, bar Kurotshuchi and Kenpachi.

"Well, that was a conversation stopper" Kenpachi grinned. "Why don't I take a brief trip to check in on this second Ichigo Kurosaki? If he's really as powerful as you all claim."

"Could we not use this power to our advantage? I could always carry out some experiments" Kurotshuchi added, with a grin slightly more disturbing than Kenpachi's.

"Well, surely more power on our side couldn't be a bad thing?" Unohana said quietly. "I mean, if we wanted to recruit these people…"

"More humans can't be a good idea. One group before was a risk. They turned out to be useful, but I can't say I'd be comfortable with the decision to involve more in our fight." Hitsugaya announced.

"I have come to a decision." Yamamoto spoke, silencing all the other captains in the process. "We send three lieutenants to will monitor these people for one week and then return to us with their observations, and advise us whether or not further measures need to be taken. Any complaints?"

Nobody raised their concerns, as Head Captain Yamamoto had presumed.

"Right. Would anyone like to offer their Lieutenants for this task?"

"I could offer mine; he'd be of more use actually doing something than lazing around here." Yamamoto nodded in agreement.

"Same goes for mine. She could do with actually working for once."

"Mine's been a bit uptight recently… I'll send them along too." Yamamoto raised his hand and let a slight smirk escape his lips. "This could be interesting."

*

Renji Abarai was currently in his room, debating what he should pack other than his Zanpakuto. Human clothes or Shinigami? Would food be provided? Not to mention his captain had failed to inform him of the two lieutenants accompanying him. However, he hadn't asked again, Byakuya had been in a terrible mood ever since the Captains meeting. Well, worse than usual.

That's when Renji had a good idea! He would spend his day going around all the lieutenants of Soul Society finding who would be going to the world of the living with him. He had, after all, a day to spare before he left. The packing could wait.

Renji left his room and headed towards squad one. Might as well start from the beginning, he decided.

*

"Yo! Sasakibe!"

The Lieutenant of Squad One looked up at the call of his name, to see Renji Abarai running towards him.

"Ah! Bonjour, Monsieur Abarai. How may I help?" **(A/N- No idea if he's French… but he looks it, haha. )**

"Well, I was just wondering if you were on this trip to the world of the living. Y'know, to check out those humans?"

"Mais non. Sorry."

"Ah, right. You happen to know who is?"

"Again, I am afriaiz I do not know, Monsieur Abarai. I apologise, howezzerrr, I muzt be getteeng on."

"Oh, yeah, sure" Renji muttered. "Well, see ya!" As he ran off to visit Oomaeda. Something he couldn't say he was looking forward to.

*

Renji had come across Soi Fong instead of Oomaeda, who was not best pleased at being disturbed for "such a stupid question". However, he had found out Oomaeda was not on the trip, so that was a plus. He had found Kira relatively quickly at squad three – filling out paperwork usually done by captains.

"Hey Renji." Izuru greeted him with a tired smile, and Renji could have sworn he saw a tear. Mind you, Izuru had greatly admired Ichimaru, and now he was sitting in his old Captain's chair, doing his old Captains paperwork. He found himself not wanting to stay too long in this environment.

"Hey, you don't happen to be going on that trip to the world of living, to monitor the humans?"

"I can't say I've heard about that trip. It's probably in this pile somewhere though…"

"No, I don't want to bother you. Well, I've gotta rush, places to be. So I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you later." Izuru bent his head down and continued ploughing through the mountain that was yet to be completed. Renji heard him sobbing as he left, and shuddered at the unmanliness of it all.

*

Renji had decided to skip squad's four and five, his reasoning being Isane had skipped the last two Lieutenants meeting as she was so busy with Various casualties, and Hinamori was still not strong enough to do much. He knew his captain had taken over the paperwork for both Captain and Lieutenant, which made Renji fairly sure if she was too weak for paperwork, she was too weak for a mission. And at squad seven, Iba was nowhere around probably on errands somewhere around Sereitei. So next on his list – Nanao.

Nanao had always seemed a bit uptight to Renji. He hadn't really talked to her before, but it was how she seemed to him from what he'd witnessed in Lieutenants meetings. However, she was Shunsui's Lieutenant – she couldn't be completely uptight, right?

He found her in her Captains office. He knocked, but they didn't hear – she was shouting, after all. And she was surprisingly loud. Renji kept knocking, Nanao kept shouting, so Renji decided rather than coming back later, he would open the door and interrupt.

".. You're being so childish! Stop with the guessing games and just tell me! "

As he peered around the door, he saw Nanao looming over Shunsui in the corner, clutching his Sake bottle. Renji checked the time – 11AM.

Nanao quickly turned as the door had opened, and gave Renji a cold stare to rival his own Captains.

"May we help you, Renji?"

"Err… I was wondering if you were going on that trip to the world of the living, to monitor the humans... but I think I might come back later."

She blinked slowly. "Do you know who else is being sent?"

"No, I've spent all day looking, Captain Kuchiki wouldn't tell me…"

"Tch." She turned back to her Captain. "I guess some people have the time to run around Sereitei looking. I, however, have spent all day running around, doing my Captain's errands, my Captain's paperwork and now it seems I have to entertain him while he makes me play guessing games as to who's going on the damn trip he signed me up for!" She turned to the blushing, slightly staggering man. "I mean, honestly Captain, who's going to keep this squad going whilst I'm gone?"

"But, Nanao-chan, I'm a captain! I should do fine!" he smiled meekly, and then blushed harder, narrowing his eyes cunningly. "Why won't my lovely Nanao-chan admit she's only making a fuss because she'll miss me…?"

She stormed past Renji out of Shunsui's room. As she paused she said "I have work to do. Renji, when you find out who else is coming, come and tell me please?" After that, she walked away. As Renji turned back around, Shunsui had fallen asleep, so he left as quietly as he could manage.

*

Squad nine had been deserted when he arrived. No Hisagi, no seated officers, or even regular officers. Presuming Hisagi had got fed up of paperwork and taken everyone for training, or something of that sort, he continued to squad ten. He found himself praying Matsumoto was on the trip – Yachiru wasn't exactly known for being a quiet, non-bloodthirsty child, and Nemu kind of freaked him out a bit. However, at squad ten, he found Hitsugaya rather than Matsumoto.

"What is it, Lieutenant? I'm busy: make it quick."

"I was wondering if you'd seen Matsumoto around, Sir."

"In case you hadn't noticed, I am currently doing paperwork." The prodigy looked up at him in cool disgust. "Did you honestly expect to find her within a hundred mile radius of actual work?"

"Erm… I'll be on my way, Sir, sorry for bothering you."

"Oh, Abarai?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"Matsumoto _is _going on that trip with you. I might actually get some work done whilst she's away." The boy remained focussed on his work, and Renji felt the sudden need to bow or something… which was… weird.

"Thank you for letting me know, Captain." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, and backed away.

As he excused himself, he sighed. Nanao and Matsumoto. This really was going to be an interesting trip.

**I know, I know, it could be better, and it's mostly dribble.**

**And I just threw in the Renji mini-story-line to fill space! :)**

**And I know it's a tad depressing since I decided to have the whole Aizen's betrayal and we're-at-war thing, but there's a purpose to that and I might go for a happy ending, who knows :)**

**And I know I made Kira a tad pathetic, sorry Kira-fans, i'll try and make him more manly for you :)**

**Don't worry, rant over.... review please? I'll love you forever and it'll make me write faster! ^_^**


	4. Chapter 4

**Howdy :)**

**Another chapter for my few adoring fans! Ah, I can hope...**

**Anyway, FINALLY, a few ichiruki hints. Well, one moment. But I plan on improving.**

**Come to mention it, do you think I should make everyone couples at the end or just hints? Or one or two couples? I dont know.**

**On another topic, I didn't intend to include Orihime, just because I really dislike her, and I don't even know why. Maybe I'm too ichiruki to contemplate her being completely in love with Ichigo? Back on track, I'm not sure if i should try and incorporate the humans in bleach. Thoughts?**

**Anyway, loooong AN. Sorry!**

**Enjoy!**

Come to think of it, Naru had had no choice, really.

Mai had wanted to go shopping with Rukia for various rabbit-related objects. When she'd invited Naru along with them, he'd had to go, merely to protect her safety from, in short, ghosts.

The strange thing was that the ghosts were able to revert into human form. However, he was under strict instructions from Mai to be on his best behaviour and not question them today, otherwise "they'll think we're only being nice because we want information!"

"Mai… is that not the reason we agreed to meet them today?"

Mai sighed. "You can get to that when we're all super-close friends. For now, we should be friendly and trustworthy. Not to mention I'm in charge of the tea." Her eyes narrowed.

He'd realised that she was talking slight sense for once, in regards to her comment about getting them to trust Naru and Mai.

He wasn't just agreeing because he was threatened by the lack of tea. Not at all.

So that's how Naru ended up in a busy shopping centre with Mai, Rukia and Ichigo.

Lin had been left back at the office. He would not like this sort of thing. That meant it was up to Naru to question them without Mai noticing. He had formulated a plan to get rid of the girls and mess with Ichigo, the dumb one's, head. The reason for this was that Naru figured it would be easier to break him than that little viper.

However, it was going to be difficult pretending to enjoy the bunny trip whilst somehow maintaining his pride.

*

"Look Mai! A Shop! Is that a bunny in the window?" Naru rushed to the window, pressing his hands against the glass and looking in awe at a small rabbit-shaped key ring in the display.

Inwardly, Naru winced. He had struggled to get the girls to go off on their own, and had to desert his attempts at maintaining his pride.

Mai, however, was slightly concerned. Her normally cold, narcissistic boss had spent the last half hour gradually becoming more and more excited and shopping… for cute Chappy accessories.

"Erm, Naru? Are you really enjoying this? You're not pretending for my sake, are you?"

Naru turned to face her. "Of course I like these rabbit tokens. What reason would I have to feign interest for the sake of my assistant?" He glared. "I hardly consider your opinion of me important."

Mai relaxed. Naru was still Naru, just… bunnified.

Rukia, not knowing the usual Naru as well as Mai, was ignoring his strange behaviour. "Oooh, Mai! Look over there! A whole shop of cuteness!" Rukia's eyes widened.

"Yeah, that's the one I was telling you about! Let's go, Naru!"

"Yeah, C'mon Ichigo!"

The two guys followed then silently. Ichigo had long ago lost the energy to fight Rukia's choice of shops. He knew he'd have the bruises to show for this battle tomorrow. "Worse than a hollow." He muttered under his breath.

"What's that? What's a hollow?" Naru suddenly came out of the bunny-fantasy he had been 'deeply enthralled' in.

Inwardly, Ichigo cursed. "Aah, nothing, nothing. At least, nothing to interest you." Ichigo's permanent frown deepened.

"Come on, tell meeeeee." Cute Naru whined. "The girls have already gone in the shop, you can tell me. It can be our secret!" He winked and put his finger to his lips in a conspiratorial manner. Naru silently groaned. Surely this isn't worth it.

"Promise not to tell her?" Ichigo questioned, his eyes scanning the area shiftily. They both knew who was being referred to with the term "her".

"Promise."

"Well, that thing we were fighting, when you first found us? That was a hollow. They're evil creatures that eat spirits and kill humans and such. There's actually a society in a world that people go to when they die that's supposed to deal with them, but we were closest, so Rukia made us go fight it. They're called Shinigami. Rukia's a Shinigami, technically, but she's in a Gigai, or false body, so humans can see her. I'm still a human; I'm just a substitute Shinigami 'cos I'm special and have abnormally high spiritual pressure."

There was a brief pause.

"I just told you way too much, didn't I?"

Naru smirked. Maybe this whole trip was worth it, after all.

*

"Naru? You're not going home?" Mai checked the time – 9PM.

"Not right now, I still have work to do. Just because we went shopping today doesn't mean the work did itself."

Mai sighed. "Did you want me to stay on too?"

"There's no need. Just get some sleep and be here at 8 tomorrow morning."

"Night, Naru."

"Goodnight, Mai."

As Mai left, Naru turned back to his computer. Even he himself didn't quite know where to start on researching what he found out today.

With a quiet smirk to himself, he brought up the Google homepage and typed in "Soul Society".

*

Unknown to Naru, outside his window were three hidden Shinigami. However, with two of them in hysterics, it was unlikely they'd remain hidden for much longer.

"He…. He really typed….. 'Soul Society'… into GOOGLE!" Renji was leant against a wall laughing uncontrollably with Matsumoto. "What kind of results does he expect to get from that?"

Nanao was less impressed. "Have neither of you stopped to think how he heard about the Soul Society? Rukia or Ichigo must have talked. This isn't good." She nudged her glasses further up her nose, wondering how she got stuck with two of the least sensible Lieutenants. No doubt her Captain had somehow played a part.

"Calm down, Nanao. We're keeping an eye of them, it's not like he's typing 'how to invade Soul Society' into Google." This was followed with further fits of laughter, and an irritable sigh from Nanao.

None of them noticed Lin come up the stairs with four carrier bags full of teabags, though.

Lin coughed.

Nanao, Matsumoto and Renji turned around.

Lin stared.

"Shit. We were never told there was some sort of security guard!" Renji swore.

Lin blinked slowly, realising they thought he was a security guard. However, he didn't speak. He didn't need to. The three strangers stood out, anyway.

As an attempt to blend in with the human population, they'd each chosen outfits to blend in with their perception of human fashion. Matsumoto looked like she'd just stepped out of a nightclub, in a short, revealing dress. Renji was dressed in baggy jeans and a Hawaiian shirt. And Nanao was in a schoolgirl's uniform. Not three people you'd expect to see hanging around together outside a Psychic Research centre.

"Hi! We wanted to enquire about a…ghost." Nanao announced.

"Smooth, Nanao. Real smooth." Matsumoto muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Lin walked over to the door and held it open for them. Although from his position he couldn't see, he could imagine Naru's face as the trio walked in. This was going to be an eventful evening.

*

Naru had found a considerable amount about Soul society on Google… there were even… fan-sites? For Ichigo and Rukia, as well as… fan-art…

He cringed. What a strange pair to obsess over. And some of the stuff he found…

He shuddered; surely this stuff had ratings? Or were at least marked "Mature Content" or "18+".

As the door opened, he swung around in his chair and came off the website he'd previously been on. He smirked as he realised he was looking at Lin, a clubber, someone who liked all things Hawaiian with Pineapple hair and a schoolgirl. This schoolgirl, however, did not seem aware it was summer break and was also carrying a school bag.

"So I assume that you've been sent from Soul Society to monitor me?" His smirk grew.

Matsumoto and Renji squirmed. Nanao decided to bluff. "No, we're here because we'd like to tell you about our ghosts."

"Then please take a seat. I'd like to hear about your 'ghosts'. May I ask your names?" His smirk didn't fade.

For someone who liked to bluff, Nanao wasn't that great at making stuff up on the spot. "My name is. ..Erm.. Rangiku… Abarai." Matsumoto and Renji looked over at her with sarcastic faces.

"What the hell did you use my surname for?!"

Nanao pushed up her glasses again. As well as getting the two least-sensible Lieutenants, she also seemed to have gained the dumbest.

If it were possible, Naru's smirk grew even more. "Now, do you care to tell me your real names?" With a sigh, they did as they were told, and Naru smirked- they were telling the truth; their names corresponded with their Wikipedia biographies.

"So, I believe you came here to tell me about your ghosts."

"Yes. My Grandmother… is haunting us. Can you get rid of her?"

"Do you not like your Grandmother?"

"She doesn't know what she's saying. It's not her grandmother that's haunting us, it's my evil twin, who died at birth, who's trying to kill me and steal my body!" Rangiku added a melodramatic gasp and raised her hand to her forehead.

"What the hell are you doing? What are you making up such stupid stories for?!" Nanao was beginning to wish she'd left Renji behind; this was like babysitting.

"Hey! It's better than Nanao's evil Grandmother Story! Plus, my story's a lot more creative."

"Congratulations, I'm sure these guys are now going to make a film about you." Renji added.

"Oh! You really think so? I don't mind playing myself you know." Matsumoto winked at Naru, not sensing Renji's sarcasm.

"You two are almost worse than my Captain! Who knew such a thing was possible?"

Naru leant back in his chair, his smirk had gone. For 'secret agents', they were painfully disorganised. At least the black haired one was trying to keep control, but the other two reminded him slightly of Takigawa and Ayako. That reminded him, they were arriving tomorrow. He might as well invite them back tomorrow, when he had reinforcements... He had the feeling he was going to need them.

*

"Well, you two screwed that one up."

"Hey! You stole my name! Nobody would think your surname was Abarai anyway… You're nowhere near cool enough."

"And mine! You stole my name too! Not to mention, Renji, that was a mean trick. I thought I was going to end up famous." Rangiku pouted sulkily.

Nanao sighed. She was going to kill Shunsui when she got back.

"Hey, you guys… where exactly are we spending the night?"

The three Shinigami suddenly stopped, noticing it was past 11PM, and they were standing in a dark, empty street.

"I have an idea."

*

"Yo, Rukia! Ichigo! Let us in, why don't you."

The pair paused and stared at each other for a moment.

"Was that… Renji?" Rukia asked.

"How the hell did they know we were on holiday? Not to mention how they found our hotel room."

"YOUR hotel room. Mine's next door. I'm not sleeping here." Rukia looked away from Ichigo and stared at her unopened Juice box. "The cupboard's… not… big enough."

Ichigo grabbed the drink and opened it for her, smirking in an uncharacteristically gentle manner. "You still haven't got the hang of that, huh?" He asked, ignoring her previous comment.

"YO! Are you gonna let us in, or what?"

"….Us?"

"Fuck."

"Is it too late to pretend we're not here?" Rukia offered.

"And I know you're in there, Rukia, so don't you dare try that trick!"

Defeated, Rukia opened the door. "Matsumoto! Nanao! What… what are you all doing here?"

"We're kinda here on a mission and SOMEBODY forgot to get us human accommodation." Matsumoto threw an accusing glance at Nanao.

"Yeah, and I easily found out where you were staying." Renji smirked.

"But… do you intend to stay here… with us?"

"That bed looks big enough… wait… is that a double bed?" Renji narrowed his eyes and looked at Ichigo, then Rukia.

"Renji! I'm next door. Don't be stupid." As the Lieutenant of Squad six was kicked in the head by an unseated officer.

"Well, I don't mind cuddling up in that big bed." Matsumoto pouted again, but this time, in a more seductive manner. "However, none of us have any nightclothes…"

"Nanao, you can probably borrow some of mine. Renji, you can borrow Ichigo's. But I'm not sure anything of mine would fit you, Matsumoto…"

Matsumoto winked. "I'll survive."

"Err, Renji, you don't want to stop in here with me, do you? I mean, you're safer than her…" Ichigo glanced at Matsumoto, who was testing the bed.

"No way, I'm bunking with Rukia. I'm not sharing a bed with you."

"You aren't sharing my bed, Renji! Matsumoto and Nanao can stay in my room, Renji, you're stopping with Ichigo or you can go."

"Fine." Renji rolled his eyes, and walked over to Matsumoto. "Now get the hell off my bed."

"You sure you want that, big boy?"

Renji turned the same crimson as his hair and crossed his arms. "… Worse than Yoruichi."

"No." Ichigo glared, "_Nothing_ is worse than Yoruichi."

They were silent for a moment until Rukia scowled.

"What happened with Yoruichi?"

**Yeah Ichigo, what DID happen with Yoruichi? :O**

**Anyway, Reviews are always welcome! ^_^**

**And I'm away from Next Saturday, but I may post one or two chapters before then.**

**Toodles!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while. I'm on holiday as of tomorrow so think of me as out of action until wednesday. :)**

**Last chapter, I forgot to thank Emina105 for an idea! Sorry! And thankyou for reviewing every chapter I've done so far, it makes me feel better :)**

**Enjoy!**

"Are you guys still not up?"

Rukia was standing over Ichigo and Renji's bed. There had been an obvious struggle for the cover last night, as it was torn down the centre.

"Great! You realize that we are going to have to pay for that, Renji!" The petite girl woke up Renji with punch to the face.

"Whoa! What was that for?"

"You wouldn't wake up, AND you wrecked the room that we payed for. Do I need another reason?"

"Don't blame me for the cover. You know Ichigo sleep talks? He was the one who started threatening me for trying to take you away."

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Do not tell me you decided cut it in half and then sleep?"

"Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time…" Renji earned himself another punch.

They both started prodding Ichigo. After he didn't wake up, they tried a variety of methods, including kicking, punching, and, in Rukia's case, sitting on his chest- apparently, she wasn't heavy enough to even slow his breathing.

"What the hell's wrong with this guy? Is he dead or something?!" Renji asked.

"Why are you making such a racket?" The two Shinigami turned to the doorway.

Matsumoto and Nanao were at the door, both in the clothes they'd worn the night before. Now that they weren't unexpectedly turning up, Rukia had a chance to give the outfits a brief overview.

"Did you say that you didn't come with any other clothes?"

Matsumoto sighed. "Yeah, it was really mean. My captain decided I could take only one outfit and so I chose this one!"

"They're not exactly… subtle."

"What's wrong with mine? This is a school uniform, right?" Nanao cried indignantly, adjusting her glasses with a small smirk.

"It's the summer vacation."

"Oh."

"Well, it's agreed! Time to go shopping!" Matsumoto announced with a wink.

"If we could wake up Ichigo then we could. But we can't."

Rangiku and Nanao's tries were also ineffective. Nanao continued with the poking strategy and Rangiku attempted to smother him with her breasts.

"Seriously? Even THIS doesn't wake that guy up?" Renji asked, secretly glad he'd woken up easier.

They all suddenly stopped when the door flew open and Isshin ran in, headed for Ichigo's bed.

"MY SHAMELESS SON! BURIED IN THE BREASTS OF A WOMAN OTHER THAN MY THIRD DAUGHTER!"

As he was about to jump onto his son, Ichigo suddenly put up one arm and threw his father across the room.

Everyone's mouths fell open apart from Rukia, who just sighed. After living in Ichigo's cupboard for as long as she did, she should have learnt only Isshin could wake up Ichigo in a morning.

*

Mai woke up to the sound of her mobile phone ringing somewhere in her empty apartment. Cursing the fact that she never put her phone in the same place twice, she stumbled around in her oversized T-shirt and tripped over the vibrating object, promptly falling flat on her face.

"Owww…" She moaned, cringing. She glanced at the caller ID and instantly grinned.

"Rukia-chan!" She sang as she put the phone to her ear. "How are you?"

"I'm great, Mai-chan!" Rukia smiled. "Just about to go shopping with some friends who I'd love you to meet!"

Mai smiled happily. "You want me to meet your friends?"

"They're a bit… odd." Rukia sounded unsure. "They're Shinigami sent to watch Naru, but they're generally alright. If a little overbearing."

Mai rolled her eyes. "You haven't met the other SPR workers, I take it? We have a punk monk, a snooty miko, a bitchy medium, a silent IT man and the calming priest with the funniest voice ever. Even if it was just Naru I'd have gotten pretty thick-skinned."

Rukia breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll pick you up and we'll go straight there then. Half an hour?"

"Sure, Ja ne!"

"Ja ne!"

*

"Well this is dull."

Mai, Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, Nanao and Matsumoto were all in a large department store. Matsumoto was currently dividing her time between finding outfits for herself and Nanao. Rukia was helping Renji choose clothing… rather unsuccessfully. Ichigo was watching them all with a bemused look on his face, alongside Mai who just… looked happy.

"Is _this _normal swim wear?" Renji asked with a perfectly straight face, holding up a pair of Speedos. Mai raised her eyebrows in surprise and cringed.

"No, Renji. Just… no." Rukia took the swimwear off Renji and guided him towards the Personal Shopper section, leaving Ichigo with Matsumoto and Nanao.

Not a good decision.

"Hey! We're going to look at underwear!" Matsumoto announced, dragging off a surprised looking Nanao.

"Err; I think I might stop here…" Ichigo glanced at the diminutive brown haired girl beside him. "… With Mai?"

"But what if we get lost?" Matsumoto stopped, facing Ichigo with tears in her eyes and a trembling lower lip. Ichigo had to stop Mai from hugging her and glared at her.

"You'd really be better off not hugging that perverted woman! And besides, I'm not going in _that _section with you guys! You can go on your own." Ichigo turned to sulk against a wall, waiting Renji and Rukia's return.

"Fine. But when we get ourselves lost then the Kuchiki princess gonna kick your ass." Matsumoto flounced off, not letting go of Nanao.

Mai sat down heavily with Ichigo on the floor, and smiled weakly.

"So whereabouts are you from?"

"Karakura."

Mai nodded slowly and laughed nervously. "You're not as scary as Lin and Naru." She giggled then, and stretched her arms. Ichigo looked at her in surprise. "Those guys probably really could kill me with a glare."

Ichigo laughed then, and shrugged. "I could still kick your ass."

"Mm." Mai agreed, and Ichigo found her reminding him of his little sister. "You could." Her amusement suddenly changed almost imperceptibly, and there was a hint of sadness in her voice. "But Gene might avenge me." Ichigo frowned and turned away.

"Is that another colleague?"

"In a way."

*

Matsumoto, Nanao, Rukia and Renji all returned to the place where they had left Ichigo, who was now sitting on the floor, with his headphones stuck in. Straight away, Rukia started making comments about how he looked homeless. Renji, Matsumoto and Nanao ended up comparing purchases.

"What the hell is that?!" Ichigo shouted, blushing.

"Do you like it? Captain Kyouraku asked me to get it for Nanao."

"I'm going to kill him when we get back, even if he is my Captain."

"Anyway, look at my clothes!" Matsumoto had enlisted the help of several shopping assistants to carry her many, many purchases. Mai turned slightly starry-eyes and her mouth formed a small 'o'.

Renji looked sceptical. "You are aware we're here for what, a week?"

"And that means I only have to change outfits 27 times a day!" Matsumoto added, winking.

"What about Nanao?"

"Oh, I picked out her stuff. That's those two assistants. Aren't they cute?" She indicated some frilly, flouncy pink things. All of which attracted Mai's attention.

"You're so lucky! I could _never _afford this sort of stuff!" She enthused, and smiled at Nanao, who turned away coldly, causing Mai to frown.

Renji looked at the clothes, then directly at Nanao. "You didn't choose any of these, did you?"

"Nope."

Rukia faced the three Lieutenants. "Does nobody care that you're taking a day off from monitoring Mai's friend to go shopping for disguises?"

"Ooh, come to mention it, we were told to go to their office today…." Matsumoto said.

However, they were interrupted by Rukia's phone bleeping – again.

"What the hell?! You've still got that thing on after last time?" Ichigo shouted.

"No time for that now!" Rukia said as she shoved Kon into Ichigo's mouth. Following suit, the rest of the group all swallowed their own pill, doubling the group size to anyone with the powers to see them.

"Which way?" Nanao asked.

"Crap. Same as yesterday. We should probably try to do it subtly though, considering that Naru guy." Rukia's voice took on a tone of worry. "I hope Mai's going to be okay…"

Mai smiled. "I'll be fine." She nodded. "If it comes for me I'll recite the nine cuts." Ichigo motioned for her to jump on his back and grinned.

"And if not, this _Gene_ guy can save you!" At which, Rukia, who knew about Gene, slapped him.

"Don't be so insensitive." She smirked at Mai.

Renji, for once, made an intelligent observation. "You know, Hollow's are probably going there because there's a load of people with high Spiritual Pressure meeting up in the same place all the time. We should probably warn them about that, too."

Mai bit her lip guiltily but Rukia touched her arm encouragingly. "Don't worry."

They all ran off towards to street outside SPR, leaving their five human bodies to buy more clothes.

With Ichigo's money.

*

"That's kinda big." Renji looked up at the abnormally large Hollow continuing the path of destruction that wasn't completed by a hollow just a few days ago.

"Is that even a normal Hollow?" Matsumoto squinted upwards.

"Come on guys, it's just a hollow. Are Lieutenants really that hesitant just because it's a bit larger than usual?" Ichigo didn't wait for an answer and ran straight at the hollow, jumping high enough to get a good viewpoint.

"Maybe he's just not hesitant enough." Renji muttered as himself, Nanao, Matsumoto and Rukia all ran and jumped to join him.

*

In an office in Shibuya, shady figures watched as the Shinigami attacked.

"That's them?" Takigawa asked, smirking at Naru. "They don't look so tough."

"Yes. Three of them are High-Ranking officers back where they come from. The orange haired boy is a human who can become a Shinigami, and seems to be the strongest, and the girl who's the smallest seems to spend half her time in a fake human body. It's really quite impressive." His eyes glittered eerily with the thrill of new-found knowledge.

"What's with the matching outfits? Do they really not have any sense of style?" Ayako dramatically sighed and watched them with half-interest.

"It's a uniform they all wear when they're in spirit form. When in human form, they wear ordinary clothes."

"What's that creature they're fighting?" John asked, with concern in his voice. "Did you say this is the second in a couple of days, when we've never seen anything like it before?"

"That I haven't worked out yet." Naru put on his concentration-face.

"Well, they've dealt with it fine. Look." Ayako pointed towards the orange-haired boy striking his large sword through the mask on the creature. The creature then evaporated into the air.

"What does Mai think? Isn't that her down there with them?" Naru's hand tightened on the windowsill almost unnoticeably.

"She's befriended the smallest one; I presume that's done something to stop her from being afraid." Naru's eyes took on an unfamiliar emotion – Ayako liked to think he felt guilty that he was not the one Mai was relying on for protection...

"So what happens now?" Takigawa asked, giving Naru an uncertain look.

"I'm going to talk to them."

*

The talk hadn't gone so well.

The group had retrieved their bodies; however they weren't willing to divulge any information to them. Also, Rukia seemed to have started to share Mai's duties in the making and delivering of tea.

He preferred Mai's tea. There was something weird about Rukia's.

Out of the three 'Shinigami' that had arrived more recently, he enjoyed tormenting the one with dark hair and glasses most. She seemed quite similar to himself, just less intelligent.

Naru had tried a different approach with these people – he told them everything he knew. This meant informing them that he knew their identities, and positions back in their Soul Society. He also told them he knew there were thirteen squads, with different specialties, and that he was a little –tiny, _tiny_- bit honoured to be considered enough of a threat for three Lieutenants to be sent to monitor him.

This had made the dark haired girl – Nanao – widen her eyes. Perhaps in shock, but he wasn't sure. She was surprisingly good at hiding her emotions, unlike the other two.

The two who weren't worth mentioning after, in a mild disagreement over hollows or something like it, they had destroyed part of the office.

They would be receiving a bill for two armchairs, a sofa, three desks, a computer chair and a few hundred pounds worth of electronic equipment at the hotel they were all stopping at. They need not know it was all covered by insurance. He met Mai's eyes and they both smirked.

Naru decided to leave early tonight. The past few days had been tiring, even for someone like him.

Why couldn't these unwelcome newcomers be like all the other ghosts and go away after a simple exorcism?

He debated asking John, but decided Mai might actually murder him.

*

Each Captain and their Lieutenant owned a phone, issued by Yamamoto to make communication over long distances easier. However, these phones were not often used. They were handy for if a Captain or Lieutenant happened to be in the World of the Living and needed contact with someone on Soul Society - as the previous Captain of the twelfth division, Kisuke Urahara, had invented them so cross-dimensional contact was possible – but most contact involved the delivery or sharing of paperwork, so often messengers were sent. That's why Shunsui was surprised to find his phone ringing. With a quizzical look aimed at the phone, he figured out how to answer it.

"Captain, it's me."

"Nanao-chaaan! I've missed you! What's the human world been like? Did you miss me? Did you buy me a present?"

"Captain, I've been working, I've not had time to buy you presents."

"Now we both know that's a lie, you went shopping with Rukia and Ichigo now, didn't you?"

"Are you telling me you have people monitoring the people you sent to monitor the humans?"

"Ah, Nanao-chan, I was the only one who did that. I just worry about you is all. So naturally I would have you under surveillance."

"Captain…"

"Anyway, I'm all lonely here. When are you coming back?"

"You were the one who told me…"

"Never mind that, as long as my Nanao is safe after that big nasty hollow jumped out of nowhere."

"I'm a lieutenant. I can handle a Hollow."

"Yes, but I was worried with all that paperwork you force yourself to do, you might have forgotten how to fight!"

Nanao ignored her Captain's criticism. "If you've been monitoring us, does that mean you were aware of what the human told us?"

"Well, I got a bit bored at that point. See, I was having fun when you and Rangiku-chan were shopping, and when I thought that Hollow was going to get my little Nanao I paid attention, but when it was just you talking to that boy, I decided to have a little nap and stopped paying attention."

"Captain, he knows a lot."

For once, Shunsui started paying attention. "How much?"

Nanao told her captain everything that Naru had told her he knew. Shunsui let out a whistle.

"That's quite a bit."

"I know."

There was a short silence between the pair.

Nanao was surprised to hear a change in her Captains usually joking tone. "I better go tell Old Yama' about this. You take care, Nanao."

"I will, Captain. Thank you." As Shunsui hung up, Nanao found herself still holding the phone to her ear, listening to the dial tone.

**Aaaw! Had to include a little moment between Shunsui and Nanao! Like, my second favourite pairing of all time! And don't ask what my first is, I'm sure you'll find out in about... 3 chapters time? I'm not sure.**

**Please, keep reviewing! Criticism is welcome, as long as you're not mean, that will make me sad.**

**Thanks for reading! ^_^**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys!**

**I know it's been a little while, and I'm sorry!**

**I have a challenge for you all -I I'm not going to update again until I get anoter five reviews! :O**

**Just because I'm starting to feel a little unloved :(**

**I hope you enjoy, anyway.**

**And please review! It makes me day ^_^**

Yamamoto was sitting on his own in his office. It was slightly larger and more extravagant than the office's of the other twelve captains, but being Head Captain had to have some perks. There were shelves all over the wall, covered in small souveniers from hundreds of years slowly increasing the thick layer of dust that already coated most of them. A couple of things stood out merely because they didn't have the uniform layer of dust – a couple of photo frames, a few bottles and a large, leather bound album.

He wouldn't call himself a hoarder; he just liked to keep things in case they ever came in handy.

Today, he was looking through the album on his desk. There was a pile of paperwork to be done, but he was feeling nostalgic today.

He flicked through each section for each division, with photo's and the names of each previous captain and lieutenant each squad had been given since the book was first made.

And that was a fair few thousand years.

He hadn't initially got the book out to look for anything in particular, but for the last half hour, he had been staring at the face of the latest fifth Captain.

Aizen Sousuke smiled back at him, the picture of innocence, but with his eyes hidden by the reflection off the lenses of his glasses.

Yamamoto was beginning to wonder what would be happening in the future. He had lived long beyond his own expectations, but found himself remembering times where the biggest enemy was a hollow, where everyone respected officers with a rank higher than their own, and the idea of a traitor would have shocked everyone to their very core.

How times had changed.

Closing the book, and putting it back on its shelf, he made a mental note to strike three of the Captains names from the record, as if they had never existed.

*

All of the captains apart from Yamamoto were gathered for another meeting that had been called. Meetings weren't a rarity, but this one was surprisingly close to the last one they had carried out.

"Ukitake! It's nice to see you. How're you feeling?" Shunsui patted his friends back as he took a seat next to him.

"Not too bad. Retsu's keeping an eye on me though." He smiled and turned to smile at Captain Unohana who was on his other side.

"It's not like Yama' to be late to a Captains meeting. Normally he's the one scolding me for my lateness." Shunsui looked around – all the current captains were present apart from the captain of Squad one.

Just as he'd said this, the head captain walked through the door and all of the captains fell silent as he took his seat at the head of the long table.

"We're here to discuss the growing problem regarding the humans being watched by the lieutenants." He announced to his expectant crowd.

"But Head Captain, I thought the mission was going well. I haven't had any calls to say they're injured at all." Unohana spoke quietly but, like Yamamoto, had the power to silence a room with her words.

Ignoring Unohana, Yamamoto continued. "Captain Kyouraku has informed me Lieutenant Ise has made contact with him and told him that the humans seem to have an advanced knowledge of us and our Society." He paused. "Something about… Oogle or Smoogle or something…"

"How?" Soi Fong asked. "Haven't the Lieutenants at least given us enough information on them?"

"Lieutenant Ise also informed us they have a larger group than we had initially anticipated, each with varying types and strengths of power. Whereas we had initially presumed there were three humans, there now seems to be nine. However, not all of these possess power. At least, not enough to worry us."

"What information do we have?" Komamura spoke gravely. "Does this mean they are a larger problem than we had initially anticipated?"

"As the Lieutenant said, they have not been injured, or even attacked. But it would be wise to send at least two captains to assist them in their investigations."

The captains exchanged glances, silently agreeing on who would volunteer…

*

Mai was having a hard time keeping everyone calm.

As usual.

The scene in front of her was fairly typical, but for some reason, today it made her smile. After the past few days, she'd been starting to miss everyone.

Not that having all these new friends wasn't great, but her old friends felt like family, and she'd been starting to miss them.

So she was happy that when she came back to the office after the monster attacked, she'd been greeted with this scene.

Ayako and Bo-san were arguing – probably over something small and pointless, Mai thought. John was trying to get them to make up whilst Yasuhara was laughing at them. Naru was bent over Lin's shoulder, staring intently at the screen, whilst Masako was trying to get Naru's attention.

As Mai shut the door behind her, suddenly everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her.

Except Lin, who carried on typing.

"MAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-CHAAAAAAAAAAAN!" Takigawa suddenly jumped forward and swallowed Mai in a huge hug. "Did that nasty monster hurt you? Don't worry, you can cry on my shoulder, I don't mind."

"Get off, you pervert!" Mai pushed him back and composed herself. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Typical. Just go and attack Mai as soon as she walks in, why don't you." Ayako flounced. And was that a hint of jealousy Mai detected?

"Mai, are you really alright?" Mai turned to see John's earnest face staring at her, with evident concern in his eyes.

"Yeah, sure!" Mai was starting to feel more awkward now.

"I presume even you were smart enough to get more information on them." Naru asked pointedly. Mai rolled her eyes. Even if she'd lost a limb with that hollow she was sure her narcissist boss would still say the same thing.

"Naru, they invited me out. I wasn't going to interrogate them. They're my friends!" She heard Masako snort in the background.

Naru didn't respond, and turned to the others. "I think we're done for today. I'll do some more research and we can regroup tomorrow." Counting that as his goodbye, he walked into his office without saying another word.

*

As everyone, apart from Lin and Naru, left the building, they didn't notice five figures in the shadows.

And they didn't hear their quiet conversation.

"I think I'll trail that blonde guy on his way home." Ukitake was the first to speak. "He doesn't look like he'd deliberately set out to hurt anyone, though. Is this really necessary?"

Shunsui ignored his question. "You sure you're up for it?"

"Sure. After all, Retsu made me put her on speed dial." He laughed quietly and held up his phone. "See you later." He silently started following his decided person down the street.

Shunsui turned to the two remaining captains – and lieutenant - by his side.

"I might go and check in on Nanao. See how they're all doing. Is that alright by you guys?" He addressed Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Zaraki.

"Why not? I'm gonna stick around for a bit; see how these two guys cope. They have the strongest spiritual pressure." Kenpachi turned to look back at the remaining lights coming from SPR.

Hitsugaya scoffed. "You're aware we're not supposed to attack unless provoked. Even then, we're not allowed to kill them."

"Hey! Don't make Kenny sad!" Yachiru spoke up from her position on "Kenny's" right shoulder.

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed. "Why'd you even bring your Lieutenant?"

Now Kenpachi's eyes narrowed. "Hey. I wasn't gonna leave her all by herself. Especially under no supervision. One squad member denies her chocolate without me? There'd be no squad to return to." Yachiru widened her eyes, the image of innocence.

Turning back to Shunsui, Hitsugaya spoke to him directly. "Sure. Make sure my Lieutenant isn't too drunk."

"What're you going to do? Are you sticking around with Kenpachi?" Shunsui's eyes widened.

"No. I think I'll follow the woman with the long hair. I'll report back in the morning." He shunpoed off to catch up with Ukitake.

Shunsui glanced and Kenpachi and Yachiru. "…You two behave, okay?"

"Sure." Yachiru waved. "See you later, flower gay!" She giggled to herself as Shunsui shunpoed away, wondering how he could get himself a better nickname from the lieutenant of squad eleven.

*

John was staying in a hotel that night. Normally he'd stop with a friend or at a church, but tonight he was tired, and rented out a small room in a hotel around the corner from SPR. He sighed, and headed towards the kitchen to make himself some tea, when he heard a strange noise coming from the small en-suite.

As he edged closer, he could make out it was a coughing noise. Reciting a silent prayer to himself, he opened the door to find a man with long white hair resting against the side of the sink, coughing.

"Are you… all right?" Sure, he was a stranger, but John had been raised to show compassion.

Ukitake looked up, silently cursing. Maybe he had been too weak for this, after all.

After getting no response, John spoke again. "I'll go and get you a drink. Please come through and have a seat?"

Ukitake found his voice. "Oh, that would be lovely, Thankyou." He smiled at the stranger before being helped through and sat down at one end of a small, empty table.

John shifted uncomfortably. "Would you like water, or tea, or something… else?" His eyes softened in compassion. "Perhaps you need to confess or take communion?"

"Ooh, tea sounds nice. I always like to unwind with a nice cup of tea." Ukitake smiled to himself.

So much for out of sight.

*

"Nanao-chaaan!"

Shunsui had found his Lieutenant easily enough. He'd walked in – uninvited – to a hotel room. There he found not only his lieutenant, but Matsumoto, Renji, Ichigo and Rukia.

In their bedclothes.

"C-Captain!" Nanao turned bright red and tied up her dressing gown, covering the short pale blue cotton dress underneath. "You can't just barge into someone's hotel room!" She smoothed her hair, regaining composure, and fixed him with a glare.

"Captain Kyouraku! Come and have a drink!" he noticed Matsumoto was slurring her words slightly, and could smell the Sake on her breath.

"Ooh! Don't mind if I do!"

"Captain!" Nanao slapped his hand away from grabbing the half-full bottle on the large bed they were all sat on. Rukia, Ichigo and Renji were still staring open mouthed at the intruder.

"My Nanao-chan is so rough with me." He muttered, nursing his hand. "Not to mention, Rangiku, your Captain won't be very happy when he finds out you were drinking."

"Aah, so it wasn't my imagination. My Captain really did come to visit me." She murmured before falling asleep on Renji's shoulder. Before Shunsui could stop himself, he briefly remembered one time seeing her fall asleep on a different shoulder of a certain silver-haired fox.

"Captain." Nanao interrupted his train of thought. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit my Nanao-chan of course!" He smiled brightly. "I trust you don't mind sharing a bed with your old Captain, I am rather tired." Shunsui let out a large, exaggerated yawn.

Nanao pushed her glasses further up her nose, noticing Rukia, Ichigo and Renji all still had their mouths open. If her Captain had come, as well as Captain Hitsugaya and who knows who else, something big was about to happen.

But that could wait until the morning.

*

Hitsugaya forced himself to stay awake.

The woman he'd decided to watch – whose name was Ayako Matsuzaki, if her drivers licence was truthful – seemed to stay awake easier than himself.

From the other side of her window, that she hadn't looked out at any point, he was observing a fully grown woman write in a journal.

From glimpses he'd seen when it was angled towards him, it looked like she was ranting about someone she referred to as Takigawa. He made a mental note of this name in case it proved useful in the future.

After watching this, then seeing her turn off her light and climb into bed, he decided to pop in, and sleep on the armchair in her room. He was in spirit form, and could hide his spiritual pressure easily pressure.

Just as he was dozing off…

"WHY THE HELL IS THERE A WHITE HAIRED KID IN MY ROOM?!"

*

"Kenny, I'm bored."

Kenpachi silently growled to himself. They'd been waiting outside this expensive looking house for a few hours now. He was dividing his attention equally between watching out for any danger, or the two males they'd followed here, and entertaining his Lieutenant.

"I got you the damn colouring book, now quit bugging me."

"But I'm all done!" She wailed.

Glancing down, Kenpachi saw the various woodland creatures and princes and princesses dominantly covered in red. She'd also drawn X's over the eyes.

He smiled tenderly.

"Now isn't that great work! Something's going on the wall when we get back." Yachiru's grin widened from the praise given.

"But I'm still bored!"

"What do you want me to do? I'm working here."

The smile on his Lieutenants face turned into a smile that slightly worried him, even though he was probably the most feared Captain in Sereitei.

"… You see that 24-hour candy store?"

Kenpachi sighed inwardly. Even by his standards, this was going to be a long night.

*

Ichimaru Gin was reading the newspaper.

He had been surprised when he'd discovered the 'Hueco Mundo Times'. It wasn't a particularly inspiring piece, mainly consisting of the occasional interview with an espada – today being 'Grimmjow – Behind the Mask' – or a story about some Hollow surviving a scrape with a Gillian.

Hell gets boring after a while.

More often than not, he found his mind wandering, and he'd remember a certain... So anyway, he'd distracted himself by either reading a newspaper, nagging Aizen and Tousen, or messing with the Espada.

Not that Aizen or Tousen were much fun anymore. Tousen was always locking himself away somewhere, muttering (creepily) about Justice, and Aizen had discovered a hobby. This hobby was now a quest to try every type of tea from the world of the living, and decide which was best.

Personally, Ichimaru had never really liked tea. But he had tried coffee at one point, and he liked that.

Flicking through this piece of shit they called a newspaper, he discovered something catching his eye.

It was an article talking about Hollows attacking a place in the world of the living that had an extraordinary amount of people with spiritual powers.

Normally, this wouldn't interest him in the slightest, but today a photo was featured.

This photo was of three Lieutenants, a Substitute Soul Reaper and the 'Kuchiki Princess' – a nickname he had thought up a while ago – fighting one of these Hollows.

But only one figure in the picture caught his attention.

Deciding to keep this fact hidden from Aizen, he decided to go and pay a visit to the world of the living.

After all, there's only so much of 'Grimmjow – Behind the mask' anyone can face before wanting to attack their own face with a spork.

**I'm a total Ichimaru fangirl - he's just so fun!**

**And I know some parts are a little not-funny, and it's not the best I've ever done, but I still like your reviews guys!**

**Also, I still have no idea how i'm going to end this - but it won't go on forever, promise :P**

**Make me happy with your loving words? ^_^**


	7. Chapter 7

**Howdy there.**

**I know, I know, it's been a while. And I'm slightly sorry.**

**Since I never got 5 reviews, I got bored and decided "what the hell" and updated.**

**As you may or may not know, my sister ( HarunoRin ) is moving out on saturday to go to university. This means, you either get regular but misspelt updates, or occasional updates with perfect grammar. And a generally better chapter. Feel free to review with what you'd prefer, but I guess none of you love me anyway :'(**

**...OK I forgive you all XD 'cos I still got reviews! Just not 5. I got 4. :)**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

"Gin!"

Matsumoto's sudden awakening had been a dream she'd normally not allow herself to have. But this time, it really had felt like he had come back to Soul Society. She'd even almost let herself smile at this thought.

Glancing to her side, she saw Nanao and Rukia staring at her with large eyes.

"Ah, sorry... did I wake you up?" Matsumoto looked down in an uncharacteristic manner.

"Did you... did you say what I thought you said?" Nanao's stare was colder than usual.

Rukia had visibly become paler. She'd never liked him anyway; he'd always freaked her out.

"Nope. No way. I didn't say what you thought I said."

"Then how do you know what I thought you said?" Nanao's stare become colder still.

"Maybe I have an awesome psychic sense! Ask Mai. She'll probably tell you I'm psychic!" Matsumoto settled back down into her bed, trying to pretend she was sleeping whilst being watched by the two girls next to her.

*

"Shit!"

Ichimaru hadn't meant to stop shielding his spiritual pressure for that split second. Cursing inwardly - to make up for the outwardly - he started feeling around for spiritual pressure. Surprisingly, nobody had even attempted to cover the traces of their Reiatsu. He found distinct marks for that Kurosaki Boy, The Kuchiki Princess, Hitsugaya, Zaraki, Yachiru, Kyouraku, Nanao and Rangiku.

He straightened himself and smoothed his Captain's Haori. It had been gathering dust in a corner of Hueco Mundo, so he decided he'd wear it today.

And people said Ichimaru Gin had a weird sense of humour.

For the first time since arriving, he looked around at his surroundings. In front of him stood an expensive looking office block, and behind him, a trail of destruction that matched the picture in that pitiful excuse of a newspaper.

Smirking to himself, and keeping his shield up, he started moving.

*

"And where have you been?"

Mai sighed. She thought when her own apartment had got water damage and her boss had offered her a place to stay, that she'd just keep quiet and out of the way, so not to disturb him.

She hadn't expected for him to start taking an interest in her life outside work, and monitoring what times she got home.

"I've been out with Rukia." Mai pouted. "And why are you still up?"

"There's a pair of Shinigami monitoring the house." Naru stood up and walked towards the window, glancing out of a crack between the curtains. "You could have been attacked. Or do you normally wander around alone in the dark, just waiting for people to come up to you?"

"Hey!" Mai shouted. "I was not wandering around on my own. I was dropped off at the bottom of the road. Not that it's any of your business."

"If you're living in my house it's my business. Not to mention, you probably just woke Lin up."

At this, Mai suddenly shut up and clasped her hands to her mouth. A few seconds later, a tired looking Lin appeared in the doorway.

There was a pause, in which Lin firstly looked and Naru, then Mai, then turned and left.

Lin smirked in a sleepy daze (because Lin never shows emotion)- with all the arguing they did, anyone would have thought they were married.

Really, it was only a matter of time before they started arguing about how to look after the children.

The Shinigami, he'd decided, were close enough to children to merit the title.

*

Breakfast was surprisingly quiet today.

Shunsui was watching the group of Shinigami – and one Substitute Shinigami – whilst smiling to himself.

For once, Matsumoto was eating silently and politely. She was receiving a cold stare from his Lieutenant (and felt for her – he knew it was like to be on the receiving end of an Ise-Glare) and Rukia, on her other side, looked slightly off colour. Next to her, Ichigo seemed to be trying to annoy her, with no success, and on his other side, Renji was just eating.

And eating.

And eating.

"Whoa, Renji, you gonna slow down there?" Shunsui smiled at Byakuya's polar-opposite Lieutenant.

"Sorry." Renji mumbled.

Even he'd been subdued by this breakfast that was frankly, boring.

"So what's the plan for today, guys?" He asked brightly.

"We're going back to SPR, to continue our mission." His Lieutenant responded, her eyes never leaving her friend.

Everyone carried on eating in silence.

"Err... anyone mind if I go and catch up with everyone else?"

He got no response.

"Bye-bye, Nanao-Chan!"

"Don't call me Nanao-chan." She kept staring at Matsumoto.

Sighing, he took off, tracing Ukitake's Reiatsu.

*

It was the apocalypse, and only a matter of time before the gates of hell itself opened to drag them all down.

It was the only explanation.

Naru had overslept.

Mai and Lin were both waiting in the lounge to head to work. However, their boss had not yet emerged from his bedroom.

"Is Naru sick or something?" Mai asked Lin. As expected, she got no response. Sighing, she sat on a western style armchair. However, when they heard footsteps, she jumped up.

Facing them was Naru.

In his pyjamas.

"Why aren't you ready?" Mai asked, going bright red at seeing Naru in pyjamas.

"I told you last night. We're not going in until the afternoon. There isn't much to discuss without everyone else, and we're not meeting them until one." As he said this, Naru moved towards the armchair Mai had sat on, picking up a Newspaper.

As his two assistants kept staring at him, Naru spoke.

"Mai?"

"Yes, Naru?"

"Go get me some tea."

"I hate you."

*

To Shunsui, this sight was stranger than the quiet breakfast.

Well, slightly.

He had followed Ukitake's Reiatsu to a small hotel building – and found Ukitake chatting to the person he was supposed to be quietly monitoring, and sharing a pot of tea.

"Oh! Hello, Shunsui!" Ukitake smiled. "This is John. He looked after me last night." Shunsui looked towards the blonde boy serving the tea.

"Ah! G'day! Would you like some tea too?" John seemed just as happy as Ukitake.

"I guess..." He sunk into the seat that had been offered to him, as John and Ukitake continued their conversation.

"So Kazuya's in charge and directly works with Lin and Mai, and the rest of us come in when there's a particular case he requests assistance with."

"Ah. Back in our day we didn't have kids telling us what to do. Times really are changing." Ukitake sighed.

"More tea?"

"Ooh, yes, and one of those ginger biscuits if there are any left."

"John...." Shunsui asked, with a coy smile on his face.

"Yes?" The young man smiled up at him.

Whilst contemplating wether or not to interrogate him, he decided to act his normal self. "Just how many ginger biscuits do we have left?"

As John went to get more biscuits, he wondered if making casual conversation with those Naru considered as the enemy was a good idea.

For his own personal safety from death-glares.

However, Ukitake was right. These ginger biscuits were just divine.

*

"What the hell happened to you?"

The question had been directed at Hitsugaya. The small boy looked as if he'd been attacked by a hollow; he was covered in bruises and shallow cuts, and looked like he hadn't slept.

"That woman is a lot more violent than she looks." He pouted. "She must have a very strong spiritual pressure she's been keeping secret."

Kenpachi grinned manically. "Don't tell me you actually got the strongest? Or are you just getting weak in your adolescence?"

Yachiru giggled. "Shiro-chan's getting old!"

"Who the hell let you call me Shiro-chan?!"

"Whoa." Ukitake said, as he and Kyouraku shunpoed next to the group. "What happened to you?"

"A girl." Kenpachi announced, still wearing the manic grin.

"Ooh! The little captain's growing up so fast! I have to tell Rangiku, make sure we don't have any of your female squad members sneaking into your house at night. You're still too young for all that sort of stuff."

"We're getting off topic!" 'Shiro-chan' shouted, turning ever so slightly pink. "Did anyone else feel a sort of... familiar Reiatsu last night?"

"Come to mention it, I did sense something." Ukitake said in his wise voice. "But it was gone again so suddenly I couldn't work out who – or what- it was."

"I can't say I noticed anything. However, my little Nanao-chan was a rather big distraction." Shunsui smiled to himself.

"I was too busy waiting for something interesting to happen." Kenpachi growled. "And making sure this one didn't need any more red crayons." He added, gesturing towards Yachiru.

"Well, we could always head to SPR at one." Ukitake added. "That's when everybody will be getting there. Maybe we'll find out whose Reiatsu we felt."

As the group started walking way, Hitsugaya followed towards the back, deep in thought. That Reiatsu had felt too familiar, and too near SPR. What was going on here?

**I'm sorry it's short and crappy and slightly lacking in ghost hunt stuff with substance, but I should make up for all of that next update! Which again, might be a while, with these horrible A-Levels that require work.... which I should be doing now XD**

**Don't forget me!**

**Toodles!**

**(Oh, and review.... if you want)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Ahhh! I'm back!**

**Sorrysorrysorry it's been so long.... but I updated! Yay! ^_^**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

Naru supposed the afternoon would be an eventful one.

After all, he'd recently discovered a new ability of his, enabling him to sense people with any spiritual power, that he could only really describe as pressure. And another one had arrived last night.

This one, however, was stronger than any of the others he had encountered – but Naru could not monitor his movements as if the new arrival had masked his spiritual pressure the instant after he arrived. However, none of the others hid their pressure in such a way. He smirked to himself, realising the irony of the group sent to monitor him being monitored themselves.

"Naaaaaaaaarrruuuuuuuu! We're going to be laaaaaaaaaattteeeeeeeeeeee!"  
Sighing to himself after recognising the familiar voice of his female assistant, he turned to leave the room, however he found himself suddenly stop in front of the full length mirror. For a second, it had felt like his brother was there with him, an identical copy of himself. He wondered to himself if they would still look so alike if he was here.

But that was a foolish thought. He'd seen Gene die.

Shaking his head, he walked out of the room.

*

Rukia, Ichigo, Matsumoto, Renji, Nanao and Shunsui all walked along the street towards the expensive-looking building of Shibuya Psychic Research. However, anyone who had seen the groups dynamic previously would have sensed something... off.

For one thing, Matsumoto was dressed unusually casual, in jeans, a floral – granted, low cut – top and a black cardigan with black boots. Everyone else was in their normal style of clothes; however that does not mean they counted as 'normal'.

Especially with the addition of a captain whose favourite colour was pink.

"So why exactly are we going here again?" Ichigo said, in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence.

"To continue the mission. However, you were not initially a part of the mission, so feel free to leave." Nanao aimed at Ichigo and Rukia, still with frequent glances at her unusually quiet old friend.

"I told Mai we'd come. So we're coming." Rukia announced, looking determined.

"WHY IS EVERYONE SO QUIET?"

Everyone stopped and stared at Kyouraku, in his pink Hawaiian shirt, White suit trousers, and flip flops.

And the hat.

"I mean, everyone seems so MISERABLE. Am I the only one excited?"

"Captain, trust me, this is nothing to get excited about. The fact that yourself and three other captains were sent to join the investigation shows that this has gone too far already. We need to end this today." Nanao pushed her glasses further up her nose, so the sun reflected off the lenses, hiding her eyes.

"I've not met this little Naru kid yet! What's he like?"

Everyone answered this one simultaneously. "Narcissistic".

Shunsui chuckled to himself. "Sounds nice. So what are we waiting for?"

*

Ayako, Takigawa, John, Yasuhara and Masako found themselves walking to SPR together.

"... and then this little white haired kid was in my room! He looked like a little thieving brat!" Ayako sniffed dramatically, finishing her account of the previous night's activities.

"Come to mention it, I had a guy too. He seemed to be sent to monitor me, but he's really quite nice." John added, thinking to himself.

"It seems we're being monitored too." Takigawa took on a serious tone, running his hand through his hair.

"It's the sensible thing to do. In their eyes, Naru's the enemy, and we are his allies. That makes us their enemy too." Masako added, walking along slowly in her kimono.

"They don't sound too bad though. At least, John's friend doesn't. What makes us their enemy anyway?"

They all fell silent in thought as they headed towards the building ahead of them.

*

"Still not recovered?" Kenpachi laughed to himself at the tenth captain's scruffy appearance. He really did look like a Rukongai brat... in expensive looking shoes.

"Ah, leave him alone, we've all been there." Ukitake smiled at the young captain, who scowled in a particularly bratty manner in return.

"As I said, she must be extremely strong." Hitsugaya announced, offering no more into the events of the previous evening.

"Keeennnnyyyyyyyy!" Yachiru woke up from her bed – on her captain's shoulder – with a wide yawn. "Are we nearly there yet?"

"Pipe down, will ya'." Kenpachi grumbled. "See just there? That's the place."

"S...P...R!" Yachiru announced, to anyone who hadn't noticed the large sign.

They all fell quiet as they stopped and looked upwards at the building.

*

"Wow, Naru, you look smart."

"I look no different." Naru said, not looking at Mai, whilst walking straight past. After all, he was in his black outfit. As was Lin. Mai stood out most, with a fresh batch of bunny-themed clothing from the shopping trip with Rukia, in a large amount of pink.

"The car's outside." Lin told Naru, also not looking at Mai.

"Hey! Why's everyone so gloomy? We get to introduce our new friends to our old friends! Today's gonna be great!"

"Mai." Naru looked at the small, indignant looking girl looking up at him.

"Yes?"

"Go put some black on."

"Why?"

"You don't fit in. You look like you should be working at a primary school."

"Naruuuuuuu!"

"Fine." Naru turned and walked towards the door. He stopped and half-turned back. "But you look like an idiot."

Mai and Lin followed Naru to the car, and as Lin got in the driver's seat, and Naru in the passenger seat, Mai was glad she was stuck in the back again.

After all, everyone seemed so miserable... surely they'd all cheer up later, right?

*

Watching the sleek black car leave the driveway, he smiled to himself. Today was going to be the most fun he'd had in a long while.

**Aaahahahaha...**

**I don't think this is as good as my others, but it's the first I attempted on my own, so please give me feedback on how I can improve!**

**I'm starting the next chapter right now, honest...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ahhh another update! I've started doing homework in my free's so I could work on this, this is how much I love you all!**

**I hope I didn't do too badly, some people may be a bit out of character - especially Renji - and may I point out Matsumoto is out of character for a reason, I'm not that bad at writing, honest :)**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

Naru, Lin and Mai were the first to arrive. Mai glanced at the clock – 12.30PM – half an hour before their friends were expected.

But why was everyone so tense?

Mai wasn't surprised at Naru and Lin being tense, usually, as in their line of work there was always danger. But they just seemed... out of sorts.

"It'll be nice to see everyone won't it?" Mai asked brightly. After getting no reply - aside from a demand for tea from her boss – Mai gave up and waited for everyone, glancing at the clock frequently.

At 12.39, Mai heard the bell above the door ring. Turning around, she saw Takigawa, Ayako, John, Yasuhara and Masako. After the initial greetings, and more hugs and promises of protection 'from evil masked creatures' from Takigawa, everyone was settled on the sofas with cups of tea.

"So they're all coming at 1?" Masako asked directly at Naru.

"Yes, at least that's what I have been led to believe. They all seem fairly predictable so far."

Yasuhara leaned over. "So Mai, I heard you made yourself some new friends?"

"Yeah, they're all really nice; I think you'll like them." Mai smiled as someone was _finally_ showing enthusiasm. She looked towards Naru, and caught him turning his head away from her.

"Well, I'm glad you all made friends, whereas I was attacked last night" Ayako added, with a touch more drama than what was necessary. After Naru lifted his head, showing she had his attention, she went on to describe her ordeal.

"I met someone last night too." John added after she had finished. "He seemed nice enough, for someone we consider our enemy."

"We were monitored as well." Naru added. This gained everyone's attention, even Lin turned from his computer.

"Why didn't you call me?"

"The situation was under control."

At this brief conversation, Mai briefly recalled a similar situation on an old case.

"This means," Naru continued, "that it isn't just myself, Lin and Mai that are of interest anymore. We're now all involved." Nobody protested at this, especially Masako at the thought of being "involved" with Naru.

"But they haven't tried to attack us yet." Yasuhara pointed out. "Surely they'd have tried to catch us off guard if they intended to attack us?"

"That's true. However, so far they all seem unorganised and confused as to what they're doing. Not what I would call efficient." Naru paused. "However, we can ask them about their intentions when they appear."

Just as Naru finished the sentence, the bell above the door rang. They all stood – apart from Naru and Lin - and turned to see a large man with spiky hair...

"Do you have _bells_ in your hair?" Mai asked. Then she covered her mouth with her hands, realising her rudeness. "I'm so so sorry! Can I help you?"

"Kenny likes his bells." Mai looked down at the little girl with pink hair – who she hadn't noticed until just that moment.

"Hi there!" Mai smiled. "Can I get you something?"

"Yachiru."

At that, Yachiru jumped back on to 'Kenny's' shoulder. As she did this, Mai now noticed a man and a young boy, both with white hair standing behind. Maybe they were related?

"YOU!"

Mai turned to see Ayako standing next to her, looking angry. "What are you doing back here?"

The young boy's face flashed with fear until he regained his cool exterior. "Oh, it's you."

"How'd you even get into my room, you little squirt?" Ayako grabbed him by the ear and started to shake his head. His companions didn't attempt to stop her at all...

"Ahhh, Ayako! Please stop!" Mai attempted to pull them apart. Whilst Mai was doing this, the older white haired man started having a conversation with John, where Mai overheard he was called Ukitake, and the Large man and the little girl went and stood in front of Naru.

Naru looked up from his armchair. "Kenpachi Zaraki, I presume?"

Kenpachi smiled manically. "Got a good brain on ya there."

"I know." Naru smirked and looked down again at his sheets of paper. Before Kenpachi could react, they heard a bell, and it wasn't Kenpachi moving his head.

"Hey!" Shunsui – known to Mai as "hat-man" – called out, smiling and waving at John and Ukitake. He went straight over to talk to them, as Nanao, Matsumoto, Renji, Ichigo and Rukia came in. Rukia, who was wearing a large pink knitted bunny-jumper and a white skirt, ran straight over to Mai and gave her a hug, glancing cautiously at Ayako attacking Hitsugaya. Nanao, Renji, Ichigo and Matsumoto all seemed more reluctant to come further in, staying near the entrance.

Mai decided to leave Ayako and the other kid to it, and went to greet the group standing in the doorway.

"Hey! We all met while shopping, didn't we?"

"Yeah." Renji smiled. "And now we're back here to 'finish things and get back to normal' as _she _likes to put it." He added, glancing at Nanao, who, to Mai, still seemed relatively unfriendly. Now though, hat-man had come back to the group and put his arm around Nanao, which had been promptly shrugged off.

"Come and mingle, my lovely Nanao-chan! You might make some new friends, or people might start to think you're cold, not to mention your dear old captain would be ever so grateful." Before she could answer, she'd been dragged away.

"So who's that guy?"

"Kyouraku Shunsui." Renji said. "One of the oldest captains, along with Ukitake." He nodded towards where Nanao was now engaged in conversation with Shunsui, Ukitake and John.

"Nanao seems... stoic, doesn't she?" Mai asked, looking towards her.

"She's lovely. You just need to get to know her."

Mai looked towards Matsumoto and realised how little she was saying – at least compared to their shopping trip. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I should probably go help my captain." She walked off to where the white haired child and Ayako were still fighting.

"Woah, the little guy's her captain?"

"Did I hear someone say 'little'?" Hitsugaya turned around, ignoring Ayako's insults, and seeing Mai hiding her face – and feeling Ayako's attacks- turned back to his previous conversation.

"Yeah." Ichigo and Renji said at the same time, and then they turned to look at each other.

"Hey, do you always have to talk at the same time as me?" Renji shouted.

"Well I haven't talked for a while! I didn't want people to FORGET I WAS HERE!" Ichigo threw a look at Rukia, who had been summoned by all the shouting. She gave Mai an apologetic look and dragged him back to where she had been talking to Yasuhara and Takigawa. Mai smiled at the sight, as at least they all seemed to be getting on.

"So, do you have a captain?" Mai turned back to Renji.

"Yeah, her older brother. I'm his Lieutenant." Renji pointed at Rukia, now laughing with Takigawa and Yasuhara at Ichigo.

"She has a brother? Who's a captain?"

"Well, she's.... it's a long story. They couldn't be more different though, personality-wise."

"Mai!" Mai turned to see Naru looking at her. "Have you been deliberately ignoring me?"

"Sorry, Naru, what is it?"

"Go and get some tea, then find everyone a seat."

*

Mai was washing teacups in the kitchen – with some sort of English soap liquid Naru insisted on using. For someone like Naru, she didn't think he'd get a washing up liquid with babies on it...

"Mai."

Mai quickly turned around to face Naru, knocking a tea cup off the side. Muttering apologies to her boss, she knelt down and started clearing up, and to her surprise she found herself face to face with Naru, who had also crouched down.

"You don't have to help, really." Mai started picking up pieces of broken china, at which Naru stood up, and waited for her to clear away. After she'd picked up the pieces, she stood up and saw he was still there.

"Did you want more tea? Or biscuits?"

"Mai, I want you to be careful." After getting a blank look from his assistant, he sighed and continued. "These Shinigami are powerful, and you're too dumb to beat them."

Having said this, he walked out of the room, leaving Mai stood in the kitchen, wondering if this was her boss's idea of being nice.

**So not the best ending ever, but I will update again soon :) Maybe this weekend if you're all lucky and if I have no life XD**

**Anyway, please review as incentive? Pwease? I will love you even more :3**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, hands up if you are the worst updater in the history or updating *raises hand***

**I'm so sorry! Especially since I had this ready last tuesday... and forgot about it _**

**I hope you guys forgive me and enjoy the chapter O_O**

"Nanao-chaaaaaaan!"

Nanao winced to herself, stopping to let her childish captain catch up to her, after she'd left the group meeting back at SPR. Not that her Captain would struggle to catch up to her if she had continued walking away.

"Captain, I want to be alone at the moment."

"Why? That's so much less fun." Shunsui grinned at her and continued walking alongside her.

They walked in silence for a bit, to nowhere in particular.

"Do you not see this boy as a threat at all, captain?" Nanao stopped to turn and look at her captain, starting to wonder if she had overreacted in regard to the situation.

Shunsui stopped with her, seemingly unsurprised at her abrupt movement. "I don't know." He took on an uncharacteristically serious look, staring at the floor. At this moment, Nanao automatically looked around and realised they were in a play park. Also noticing this, Kyouraku sat on a swing. Silently reprimanding herself for being unaware, she followed him over to the swing set and sat on the swing to his right.

"On the one hand," Kyouraku continued, "He does know a large amount, which is probably a cause for concern in itself. We don't need more Ichigo Kurosaki's." He smiled to himself briefly. "On the other hand, he just seems to be a kid who has no idea what the Soul Society is going through, and is trying to exploit us for power or something of that sort."

Nanao thought to herself she must have made a noise, as he turned to look at her and smile again, commenting "Why don't you ever wear your hair down, Nanao-chan?"

Sighing to herself, she looked down at her knees, wondering if her Captain was capable of elongated periods of being serious.

*

"That was... eventful."

Ichigo looked to Rukia at his side. They were both walking back to their hotel room, after having threatened last night's guests to find their own hotel and stop increasing their bill.

"I heard Captain Hitsugaya saying he was going to contact General Yamamoto tonight." Rukia continued looking ahead, with an expression Ichigo realised as her being worried. "Since when were Mai's friend's threats? They all seem nice enough."

"It'll probably just be giving them mind wipes." Ichigo carried on, lost in thoughts of how different things would have been if he himself had been mind wiped, Ichigo looked up...

Just in time to walk straight into a lamppost, causing Rukia to laugh.

"How can somebody defeat Byakuya Kuchiki, and then get his ass kicked by a Lamp?" Rukia continued to struggle for breath after her laughing fit.

Ichigo scowled, shoved his hands in his pockets and carried on walking, as Rukia chased him to catch up.

"Aw, come on, don't sulk. At least you cheered me up." She smiled at Ichigo, having stopped in front of him forcing him to stop.

"Yeah." Ichigo smiled back, but it was still filled with his usual frowny-style attitude.

At least, he liked to think he still looked scary.

*

Matsumoto was sat in the hotel room her Captain had rented, and had deliberately asked that his room at the other side of the hotel. She smiled to herself at her Captain's fear of staying in the same room as her. Then she remembered her dream.

She was sure it wasn't just another meaningless dream. She'd had that dream whenever Gin was nearby. Which could only mean one thing.

Suddenly, Matsumoto was very aware of her large window. It wasn't a particularly stunning view. Just a brick wall of the building next door, with a car park on the floor, and a large tree in the corner.

She sat in the windowsill, looking upwards. It was dusk, and the streetlights were just starting to glow.

She sighed, and after a few minutes lost in her own thoughts, she stood up and walked towards the bathroom, quickly shaking herself as if to abandon her gloomy mood. At least she could steal a load of human freebies before she went back to Soul Society. Not to mention, no matter what anybody said, she still didn't have enough clothes. She grabbed a handful of small, blue bottles, turned around...

...and dropped them all on the floor.

*

Captain Hitsugaya was bored of errands.

He'd done nothing since they left SPR but call several different departments in Soul Society. Informing each Captain they'd come no closer to resolving the situation, asking Research and Development if they could send someone – which they couldn't – and finally, ringing Unohana for news on Momo.

"She's improving." Hitsugaya cursed silently to himself. She was always 'improving'. He'd have to check himself to find out how she really is.

He jumped at the sudden sound of loud music starting in the room next to him. _I jumped, _he disgustedly thought to himself, and grabbed his phone – and noticed it had been graffitied by Matsumoto with stickers of Hyourinmaru, bunnies and "Shrio-chan luuurrves cake." Silently wondering how he hadn't noticed until she'd pointed it out the other day, he started to dial.

After all, he'd tried to blast it with Hyourinmaru, but his Zanpaku-to had taken a liking to himself in sticker form.

*

"Where's Gin?"

Tousen turned to see the former fifth squad Captain looking at him, with no readable expression, and no visible tenseness.

"I'm not sure, Aizen-Sama. Would you like me to look for him?"

"Oh no, it's fine." Aizen smiled slightly, walking away. The reasoning in his mind led him to believe since he couldn't feel his Reiatsu; he must either be in the Soul Society or the World of the Living.

'No matter, though', Aizen thought to himself. "I was just thinking Hueco Mundo was getting boring. I might as well come and find you myself."

Tousen felt his superiors Reiatsu fading away, presumably to where he'd find an Espada willing enough to make him some tea.

And then a thought hit Tousen.

If there's no water here, how does Aizen make tea?

*

"Aw, really Ran-chan, is dropping a load of bottles a nice way to greet someone?"

Ignoring the comment, Matsumoto bent down to pick up the bottles, to find they were no longer there. Confused, she stood up again and looked to her childhood friend, who was holding the bottles with a smug look on his face.

"Well Cap'n Hitsugaya wouldn't have got his deposit back now if you'd gone and made a mess." He casually threw them back to Matsumoto, who now caught them easily.

She turned to put them away in her suitcase, but Ichimaru was blocking her way.

"Why are you refusing to talk to me? That hurts, Ran-chan." He grabbed her face strong enough so she couldn't get away, but not so hard it would hurt too much.

"Don't call me that." After she said that, he dropped his hand, and she dodged around him and put down the bottles. She turned around again, a different expression on her face, and asked "Why are you even here? And what's with the Haori? Making an ironic statement are we?"

"For someone who won't let me be nice, I don't see a reason to tell you. Ran-chan." He smirked, and disappeared before she could think of a response.

As she sunk down against the wall, she put her head in her hands. No matter how hard she tried to stop it, he always had the same effect on her.

And he knew it.

*

Smirking to himself, Ichimaru Gin stood outside SPR, his hand on the hilt of his Zanpaku-to.

**And yes, it is supposed to end strangely, I'm in an interesting mood. :)**

**Please review? I shall love you lots and lots.**

**ALSO, I have now got to the stage where your ideas for pranks are very welcome! I vaguely have an idea for Kenpachi and Squad 11, but I welcome your input, and hey, you get to decide how everyone bullies Naru! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Howdy everyone! Just under 2 weeks since my last update, I don't think thats too bad!**

**Enjoy!**

**And yes, there's Ghost Hunt in this chapter...**

Naru was watching the stranger out of the window, when Lin came to his shoulder.

"He's Ichimaru Gin, a Captain that abandoned the Soul Society. Apparently, his sword has the power to extend."

"Alright then." Naru turned to face Mai, who was starting to look afraid.

"Naru..."

"Mai, I want you to go and lock yourself in my office." He casually threw her the key, after getting a strange look of Lin, and, being Mai, she dropped it. Blushing, she ducked down to pick it up.

"Erm... is he that bad?"

"He's the enemy of your new _friends. _I'm sure you wouldn't get on well." Naru turned back to the window. Mai thought she detected a hint of something foreign in Naru's tone. Jealousy?

Mai suddenly got what Naru liked to refer to as 'Mai's ignorant, stubborn phases'. "Well, I don't see why I should hide like the damsel in distress. Everyone else gets to be useful." Mai looked round at Takigawa, Ayako, John and Masako – as Yasuhara had left earlier to meet up with a new girlfriend.

"Well, that's the difference between you and everyone else. They're useful when they're conscious." Naru continued to look out of the window.

"Mai," Takigawa whispered, getting her attention. "You just got your bosses key to his secret, permanently-locked office. If I were you, I'd play the damsel in distress for a bit." He added a sneaky wink. "Don't forget to grab a few goodies for me."

As Mai ran off, Naru quickly glanced at Takigawa. "You know all my drawers are locked anyway, she'd be lucky to get anything." This was confirmed as they heard a bang, and Mai shout "What kind of guy has locks _inside _a locked room?!"

They were quickly distracted when they heard the bell above the door sound, and Ichimaru walk in.

"Oh my god, is he _blind?_" Ayako blurted out, earning shocked stares from John and Masako, a stifled laugh from Takigawa and, as usual, nothing from Naru and Lin, who continued to stare at their guest.

"Well, that's not what I'd call a polite welcome." Ichimaru's hand shifted on the hilt of his Zanpaku-to in a mildly threatening manner...

As he fell to the floor, unconscious, with Lin stood behind him holding up a laptop.

"No way, you hit him with a laptop?!" Takigawa looked at Lin in disbelief, letting out a laugh. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"Lin." Naru glared at his assistant. "You're not getting paid until you've returned what you owe for that laptop."

Lin sighed, thinking he'd at least appreciate a 'thank you' for knocking out their mystery visitor with a sword that extended....

*

Ichigo walked into Rukia's hotel room, to see her staring wide-eyed at a television programme, with people singing and dancing.

"Rukia..."

"Shhhht!" Ichigo quickly dodged a plate thrown at his head.

"What the hell?!" Ichigo shouted, rubbing his ear where the plate had caught him. Stupid bitch had good throwing skills....

"It's called 'Glee'. It. Is. AMAZING." Rukia pulled Ichigo down beside her, without taking her eyes off the screen. He stared at her for a second, as her face was entranced by people singing a song where they kept telling people not to stop believing. He sighed to himself. Don't stop believing in what? Stupid TV people....

*

Matsumoto was sat down on her bed, looking out of the window. Her attention was drawn to the tree in the corner of the car park, realising it was quite strange to have a large tree in such an urban area.

"Matsumoto"

She turned at the mention of her voice, to see her disgruntled looking captain. Instantly putting a big smile on her face, she called "Hey there! I'm bored, when do we get to go out?"

"I've been talking to Captain Kuchiki. Captains Kyouraku and Ukitake, as well as Lieutenant Ise are returning to the Soul Society tonight."

"Oh." She turned back to the window. "That's too bad."

"They're being replaced by Captain Kuchiki."

"Woah, really?" She turned and let out a quick laugh, before adding "His sister's friends are gonna love that."

Hitsugaya turned back to the door. "Just thought I'd let you know, so you can say goodbye. They're staying in the hotel over the road."

"I know." She smiled. "I am a Lieutenant; I think I'm getting good at sensing Reiatsu." She stood up and followed her captain out of the room.

*

Renji Abarai always liked to think he was tough. After all, he was Lieutenant to the most famous Captain in the Soul Society.

That's why he was ashamed of having a plate hit him square in the face when he tried to talk to Rukia and Ichigo, both entranced by the TV.

"What the hell?!" Renji shouted, rubbing his nose.

"Ha, I only got caught on the ear." Ichigo replied smugly, not removing his eyes from the TV.

"... What is it?"

"Glee." Rukia responded – once again not removing her eyes from the screen. "I can't believe Quinn is pregnant! Isn't she supposed to be head of the chastity club?"

"I know! And she slept with Finn's best friend. What. A. Bitch." Ichigo said, sounding slightly feminine.

"Okay, guys." Renji got their attention, since after all, the adverts had started.

"Yeah?" Rukia smiled happily up at him. That girl seemed to love that TV...

"Captain Hitsugaya wants to see us all. He's in the hotel a few minutes away. You coming?"

"Yeah, sure." Ichigo seemed to distract himself more easily than Rukia, as he literally had to drag her away from the TV.

"But.... But... Mr. Schuster's wife wants Quinn's baby!" Rukia wailed, as both Ichigo and Renji proceeded to carry her out of the hotel room, with Rukia reaching out, attempting to drag the TV with her.

*

"He's still not awake?" Ayako pouted and leant back in her chair.

They were all now seated, looking rather bored, other than Lin who was trying to repair the damaged laptop. After they had bound their mystery visitor with various chants from Takigawa and Ayako, they'd all waited for him to wake up.

For an hour.

"Anyone want a coffee?" Takigawa stood up and stretched, earning a quick glance from Ayako.

"Normally that's Mai's job." Masako smile slightly at the thought of her Naru-Time without Mai.

"Since he doesn't seem to be waking up, you can go and get her out." Naru looked at John, who smiled, stood and left to get Mai, leaving an annoyed-looking Masako.

"So what are we supposed to do with him?" Ayako prodded his arm with her foot, which didn't react.

"We wait. Nobody leaves until he wakes up, we can't risk having people on their own with him." Naru stood up and walked to the window again, in time for Mai and John to return.

"So how come I'm allowed out now?" Mai stared at her boss' back.

Without turning, he replied "In case you hadn't noticed, he's unconscious." He turned around to look at her. "So where's the tea?"

**Hope you all liked! Please Review?**


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